NX Simulation - CAE

Smarter engineering decisions

There’s no question about it: The variety of software tools and options available these days makes it essential for a manufacturing company to rely on simulation to accelerate its innovation process. And NX delivers in all areas, from evaluating various design alternatives, to conducting experiments, to gaining new insights into the performance of products. It goes one step further, however, than other software bundles that throttle companies with the inability to connect such simulations to mainstream product development. NX’s comprehensive set of simulation tools allow for the manufacturer to integrate performance simulation early in the development process. Simply put, by investigating more design options and making smarter product decisions, companies can produce better products with less waste of time, money, and effort.

A modern CAE environment

To drive smarter product decisions, advanced analysts, workgroups and designers who need to deliver high quality performance insights in a timely fashion will appreciate NX CAE’s modern, multi-discipline environment. Through its integration of best-in-class analysis modeling with simulation solutions for structural, thermal, flow, motion, multiphysics and optimization. NX CAE creates a single environment. Single-discipline CAE tools can’t do that. Additionally, information is no longer lost within some obscure hard drive, for NX CAE also seamlessly integrates simulation data management into an analyst’s workflow. Finally, companies gain the ability to extend simulation to the design community and increase collaboration between analysts and designers with NX CAE’s simulation-driven design.

Advantages

Preparation time reduced by 70 percent

Design-analysis iterations shortened

Team productivity improved through capture and re-use of CAE best practices

Design trade-offs across multiple disciplines evaluated

Performance against product requirements validated and tracked

We can take our 3D model, basically use that exact same 3D model, just click a button on the NX screen and we’re in stress and strain analysis. Click another button and we’re in a deflection analysis. Click another button and we’re running flow simulations. So being able to integrate all those different analysis tools right into our 3D modeling software has benefited us greatly as well.”
- Jeff Albertsen,
Managing Director Rasandik, Design Engineer,
Adams Golf

Best-in-class analysis modeling

Engineers see their simulation model preparation time drastically reduced with NX CAE. It delivers all advanced data that are needed to conduct high-end analyses: meshing, boundary conditions and solver interfaces. NX CAE differs from all other preprocessors in its superior geometry foundation, the synchronous technology of which enables intuitive, direct geometry editing. Combine that with an analysis model to design geometry associativity, and analysis models immediately update to the latest design variant with little to no further effort required of the analyst. The key to reducing modeling time by up to 70 percent compared to traditional finite element (FE) modeling tools is NX CAE’s tight integration of a powerful geometry engine with robust analysis modeling commands.

Multidiscipline simulation and optimization

Relying on its single, advanced simulation environment, NX CAE demonstrates both a breadth and a depth of analysis capabilities. Included among the simulation solutions are structural, thermal, flow, motion, optimization and multiphysics analyses. An appealing byproduct to incorporating these solutions by standardizing tools onto a single platform is that engineering departments can also lower training costs as well as streamline coupled and multiphysics analysis workflows. Keeping data internal means no more time-consuming and error-prone data transfers between different software tools.

You can leverage your existing simulation investments, thanks to NX CAE’s ability to support other well-known solvers.

Systems-level modeling and simulation

Unique in the way it manages large FE models, NX CAE efficiently builds and manages large analysis model assemblies by employing a multi-level, hierarchical structure, very similar to how a CAD assembly is managed. By simply referencing and instancing separate FE components, engineers can rapidly build FE assembly models.

Combined with control systems designed in Matlab/Simulink, NX CAE can co-simulate mechanical systems for mechatronic systems.

Simulation data and process management

Seamlessly integrating with the simulation process management module of Teamcenter, NX CAE can access its simulation data management capabilities right out of the box. By implementing a complete environment for managing CAE data, processes and workflow as part of a wider product development environment, companies can promote time saving practices like the re-use of existing designs and engineering knowledge. Simulation results become readily accessible for data mining, visualization and reporting through the synchronization of simulation with design.

To increase productivity, NX Open, the common foundation for automation and programming in NX, can create and automate customized CAE processes.

Advantages

Efficient build and management of FE assemblies through a unique, multilevel approach

Speedy solution times through parallel processing

Simulation of mechatronic systems

Simulation of data and process management

Out-of-the-box integration with Teamcenter

Capture and automation of repetitive simulation processes

Our analysts are very excited about being able to use synchronous technology to defeature models and get the geometry down to what they need to build a finite element model, a CFD model or a thermal model.”
- Nathan Christensen,
Senior Manager, Engineering Tools & Analysis,
ATK

Simulation-driven design

Both time- and cost-effective, simulation allows more design options to be considered in shorter time frames than physical testing does. Naturally, companies want to extend simulation applications to earlier and earlier points in the design process. Up until now, the snag has come in the form of the absence of an engineering environment and process that can keep pace with the design team.

Based on the same platform as NX CAD, the flexible simulation capabilities of NX CAE help facilitate simulation-driven design. While providing the same trusted simulation technology used by expert analysts, these simulation capabilities easily scale to a designer’s environment and expertise level.

CAE vision and heritage

To realize this vision, Siemens PLM Software builds upon a simulation heritage spanning 40 years and encompassing well-known industry brands, such as Nastran for finite element analysis and I-deas for integrated CAD and CAE. Siemens PLM Software continues to invest in the latest simulation technology and today delivers a modern simulation environment: NX CAE.

Advantages

Employ the same scalable technology used by expert analysts and designers